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This statue on a quiet square in the the Van Beenhoven street in the historical city of Mechelen shows the roots of Beethoven in Mechelen. On the left hand side, you can see the older figure which represents Lodewijk Van Beethoven, Ludwig Van Beethoven's grandfather, who was born in Mechelen in 1712. On the right hand side, you can see the younger figure which represents Ludwig Van Beetoven who was inspired by his grandfather.
Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. Founding member of the European Union, it covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres and has a population of about 10.7 million. From the end of the Middle Ages until the 17th century, it was a prosperous centre of commerce and culture. Upon its independence, Belgium eagerly participated in the Industrial Revolution and, at the end of the nineteenth century, possessed several colonies in Africa. Today, Belgium's strongly globalized economy and its transportation infrastructure are integrated with the rest of Europe. Its location at the heart of a highly industrialized region helps made it 2007 the world's 15th largest trading nation. Cultural life is nowadays concentrated within each language community and a variety of barriers have made a shared cultural sphere less pronounced. Anyway, the region corresponding to today's Belgium has seen the flourishing of major artistic movements that have had tremendous influence on European art and culture. Text extracted from wikipedia.